The Slovakization of travbuddies.

Bratislava Travel Blog

Just 2 weeks after welcoming the first travbuddies in my hometown Bratislava another one was coming. Donâ€™t know if all these people havenâ€™t seen the movies â€śHostelâ€ť, â€śHostel 2â€ť or â€śEurotripâ€ť, but they were still people heading over here. Donâ€™t misunderstand me, I think all these movies are crap even if it wasnâ€™t Bratislava which is presented as the worst and most dangerous place on earth.

Tried to convince myself that the reason might be my charming personality, but my subconcience kicked my concencie to stop inventing things. Whatever it was, I was looking forward to meet my first Australian travelbuddy Narrie (NazfromOz) who was touring around with her boyfriend Wilco.

First they were supposed to arrive on Saturday, but Friday I received a text message on my cellphone that they would come on Sunday, Never mind, that weekend I was free.

Narrie and Wilco trying Slovak food for dinner.

My Swedish friend Dan whoâ€™s living in Bratislava and is one of the most inactive members on travelbuddy (Dan, you chicken) agreed to join me while I would show our new friends what Bratislava has (or doesnâ€™t have) to offer. 12:30 I met Dan in the main hall of the Central Station and then we went to the platform where Narrieâ€™s and Wilcoâ€™s train was supposed to arrive from Vienna. Couple of minutes later I suddenly discovered them between the passengers leaving the train.

After the greeting I realized one thing on Wilcoâ€™s backpackâ€¦it was a Dutch flag? Was he a fan of the Dutch football team participating these days on the European Cup in Austria and Switzerland? I thought as an Australian he might have some Dutch ancestors, but I was completely wrong. He was a proud holder of aDutch passport, he was a real Dutch from the Netherlands.

Well done Dan...I love saying this, hehe.

It was just Narrie who was Australian, OK, got it now.

The way from the Central Station to the old town isnâ€™t that far so after the â€śheroicalâ€ť approval of Wilco who was wearing the heavy backpack we decided to walk. Narrie told me she booked an apartment for 2 nights somewhere in the center on Karadcicova street. Hmmm, that street sounded familiar to me, but I wasnâ€™t sure if it was in the OldTown or not. We needed a map. Going to the nearby tourist information center didnâ€™t sound like the worst idea. But there was the risk that it might be closed as it was Sunday. Well, it was closed, but not because of Sunday. They were on a lunch break, aaaaarrrgghhh, hahaha. Would come back in about an hour. Anyway, we suddenly found a map and guess what. The apartment wasnâ€™t as centrally located as we thought. Well, that part of Bratislava can be still maybe considered as the center, but really only as its edge. Narrie called the guy from the apartment (Juraj) from my cellphone and we started to walk again. About 20 minutes later and after asking twice people on the street we suddenly reached the correct house, Juraj was already waiting outside. Narrie and Wilco sent with him upstairs while me and Dan waited on the street.

Little bit later we were walking againâ€¦back direction OldTown. Our new friends were hungry so we made first a stop in a restaurant which is quite popular among some of my friends. The food and the waiters are usually nice there. Wilco asked me immediately whatâ€™s the national dish in Slovakia, he wanted to try something typical. Well, the number 1 traditional dish in my country is definitely â€śbryndzove haluskyâ€ť, little dumplings made of potatoes mixed with soft sheep cheese called â€śbryndzaâ€ť and small roasted bacon pieces on the top. Some foreigners like it, some not. The truth is that itâ€™s relatively heavy for the stomach. And the portion they brought for Wilco was huge, hahaha.

Narrie meant it was the first time she saw Wilco unable to finish a meal, hahaha. Shall Slovakia be proud on that? Iâ€™m actually not sure, hahaha.

After the lunch we got on the so called â€śOld bridgeâ€ť and crossed the river Danube. From this bridge you get the best picture of the most typical panorama of Bratislava, the â€śUFOâ€ť bridge and the castle. We walked around the largest park of the city and made a short visit to Aupark, a big shopping mall as well as Narrie needed to buy something.

We just returned back to the OldTown when it started raining, wasnâ€™t such a good idea to go up the hill to the castle. Narrie needed some rest anyway, so we decided to separate and to meet for dinner again in the evening.

At 7pm me, Dan and our Finnish friend Karri who lives in Slovakia as well were waiting at the Central Square in the OldTown. I hoped Narrie and Wilco wouldnâ€™t have problems to find their way, but there they were. The place for dinner I chose was actually the same one as for the travbuddy meetup 2 weeks before. It has a good offer on beverages and meals ( a lot of Slovak traditional meals) and the prices are moderate even for Slovaks, haha.

Narrie was unfortunately the only girl in our group and all the rest was curious about the football match that night: CzechRepublic against Turkey. Thatâ€™s why we ended up in a pub in the OldTown which was showing the match on a big TV screen. Unfortunatly we didnâ€™t bring any luck to the Czechs, the Turks managed to turn the 0:2 into an incredible 3:2 right before then end of the match, aaararrrrggghhh.

Well, the match was over and we had to return home. Next day was Monday and Dan, Karri and me had to go to work. Narrie and Wilco were staying till Tuesday morning, but I was too busy at work unfortunately so we didnâ€™t manage to meet a 2nd time.

Feel sorry for that, it was really great having them here. Well, maybe I will get to Australia one day and Narrie could show me then Melbourne, that would be so awesome for sure. Anyway, wish them both a good time for the rest of their trip.